I've heard it said that there are only 3 conclusions someone can reach about the historical figure named Jesus. He can be deemed a lunatic. Someone who thought himself to be the Son of God but was nothing more than any other delusional character who thinks himself to be greater than he actually is. Or even worse, he can be deemed a liar. Someone who clearly knew he was not the Son of God but with all deceipt and deceptiveness characterized himself as though this were true and led others into a false belief in him as the Messiah. There is one last possible conclusion. That he was exactly who he said he was - Lord. The Son of God. The Messiah. The Savior of all who believe in him. The decision you make about Jesus has eternal consequences. This is the one conclusion that you must get right.
The evidence in favor of Jesus matching the requirements of the prophesied Messiah is overwhelming. In fact, it has been shown that over 300 specific details from the old testament concerning the Messiah were fulfilled in his life. The below examples are from the old testament, written hundreds of years before he was born, prophesied where the Messiah would be born and a provides a characteristic about his death.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” Micah 5:2 (NKJV)
10 “... then they will look on Me whom they pierced.” Zechariah 12:10a (NKJV)
Any random fact about a person could also be a fact about another person. After all, many people were born in Bethlehem and they can't all be the Messiah. But once you start adding more facts, like the second point of him being pierced (on the cross), the pool of candidates begins to decrease and continues to do so at a significant rate as more facts are included. Aside from Jesus, do you know anyone born in Bethlehem? Perhaps. Do you know someone who was pierced? Maybe. Do you know someone born in Bethlehem that was also pierced? The liklihood decreases. So that by the time all the things prophesied about the Messiah are considered, it becomes impossible for any person other than Jesus to be a consideration. It would be as if someone knew every detail about how your life would turn out and wrote a book about it before you were born. Those details which could only match your life and would only fit your life's story, would be proof that you were the person the book was describing. That's what we have in Jesus. We have his story, his mission, his purpose, and his plan written in advance of his birth. Prior to his arrival, everyone was waiting in anticipation for the day the Messiah the bible described would arrive. And now since Jesus has come, there is no longer a reason to wait for or to look for another. The bible foretells his life. It's his story.
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27 (NKJV)
So Jesus is a historical fact and he fulfills all of the descriptions and qualifications of being the Messiah. So what? What does that mean for me and my life and you and your life? Why should I or you care? Jesus came to this world for one primary reason: to die on a cross and rise again. His death was payment for sin and his resurrection was to show power and victory over death which would be given to everyone who repents, believes in him, and accepts him as their savior.
Humans in general think ourselves to be better than we really are. Yet we live in societies that have to inact laws to have order and protect everyone from everyone else. It would be a fair assumption that once you remove laws society will quickly break down. It's in our nature to tend towards disorder even if we wanted to believe we're mostly good. The fact is none of us are good in the truest sense of the word. We can do good things but we most certainly, if we're being honest, continue to do and have done plenty of what we would consider bad - whether in our own eyes or the eyes of someone else.
Accepting as a premise the idea that there is a perfect God that we must answer to, will naturally lead to the issue of how exactly we being imperfect can be reconciled to a perfect being. Simply doing more good things can't erase the bad we've done. And even if we could present good deeds to God in a way as to try to overshadow the bad deeds, the fact remains that he's perfect and we are not. In simple mathematical terms, imperfect is and will always be less than perfect. It will never be equal. Therefore, the only way to be reconciled to a perfect God is to be perfect. But once we've committed a single bad deed (sin) and we all will, our ability in ourselves to be reconciled to God is impossible. God knew this would happen and he provided a solution. Our answer to solving this problem, removing the barrier, and being reconciled to God is in the man, Jesus Christ. God gave his son as the answer to our perpetual problem of sin.
1 Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good. Psalm 14:1 (ISV)
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20 (NLT)
Imagine a convict on death row. He's been found guilty of a crime he did commit. He's genuinely remorseful and recognizes what he did was wrong and will turn away from that behavior. Now imagine if the judge who sentenced him to death, not only offers to have someone else take his place and, essentially, pay for his crime but also allows the convict to go free. That, of course, sounds crazy because which one of us would be willing to provide such a deal? Yet it is exactly what God has done. He knew there would be no way for us to be reconciled to him in ourselves. He also knew he wanted to have that perfect relationship restored. So he offered Jesus, his son, who lived a perfect life without sin to take our place and pay the price. What we have in essence is an exhange that took place on the cross where Jesus hung. His perfect life was traded for my sinful one. But we must believe. It's both the simplest thing and hardest thing we'll ever do. It's simple because you just have to accept that you're a sinner, admit and truly believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, that he died in your place, and call upon him to save you. It's hard because we have to admit we're imperfect. We have to admit that we are not supreme in the universe. That, yes, there is someone greater than us whom we are accountable to and we will have to answer to.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NKJV)
Propitiation is a fancy way of saying satisfaction. What Jesus did satisfied God's just judgement of sin. What that means is, a sin debt was owed and the price was more than we could pay. So Christ offered himself as the payment for my sins and your sins so that when God sees me, he sees Christ in my place and when he sees you he sees Christ in your place. But only if we accept what Jesus did. If you owe $10,000 to the bank and someone offers you $10,000 to pay that debt, that's great. But it means nothing until you accept that $10,000. You have role to play, a decision to make. It's the simplest and hardest and most important thing anyone will do in this life.
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:5-6 (NKJV)
2 For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT)
God is real and you will have to answer to him for the deeds done in this life. On your own, you can never measure up to perfection. But Christ did and he can do that for you. Let God see Christ in your place. A simple prayer of faith stating your true belief that Jesus is the promised savior and that you accept his death as payment for your sins is all you need to do. Christ will do the rest and you will have passed from death to life.
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:28-29 (NKJV)
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 (NASB)
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 (NASB)